Epidemic of lumpy skin disease in Pakistan

Abstract Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease that affects farm animals including water buffalo. It is caused by the contagious LSD virus, a member of the Poxiviridae family's Capripox genus. Skin sores are thought to be the most common site of infection since the virus may live for lengthy periods in lesions or scabs. The first clinical indications of LSD were described in Zambia, in 1929. Pakistan has also been afflicted by LSD, with a high number of animals infected at many cattle ranches in Karachi, 190,000 cases of LSD have been reported nationwide, with greater than 7500 deaths attributable to the illness. LSD has a huge influence on Pakistan's economic status, resulting in the loss of cattle and a decrease in milk output. The Ministry of Research and National Food Safety in Pakistan has formed a working group to create a framework for controlling the spread of LSD in cattle and buffalo. Official and private veterinarians, both field and slaughterhouse, veterinary students, farmers, cattle merchants, cattle truck drivers, and artificial inseminators should all participate in awareness efforts.


INTRODUCTION
The lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral infection of farm animals and water buffalo. It is prevalent in most African and Middle Eastern nations. It is caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), which belongs to the genus Capri pox of the poxiviridae family. The virus is transmitted mostly by arthropod vectors, i.e., insects, but it is also believed to be transmitted via direct contact with the infected animal, contaminated feed and water. Skin lesions are considered the main source of infection since the virus persists in lesions or crusts for a long time (Namazi & Khodakaram Tafti, 2021).
The diagnosis of LSD is made by histopathological evidence, virus isolation or PCR. The disease may be confused with cows' pseudo-LSD caused by a herpes virus. The two diseases can be clinically differentiated by PCR (Amin et al., 2021). Although there are no specific antiviral drugs for LSDV, the only treatment option is livestock supportive care. Secondary infections of the skin can be treated with NSAIDs or antibiotics. The only method of control is preventive, i.e., vaccination (Babiuk, 2018).
Due to the recent outbreaks in the neighboring countries like Malaysia and Thailand (Azeem et al., 2022), and the movement of livestock from and to Pakistan, the LSD can cause an outbreak in Pakistan. Historically being free of the LSDV, the cases are now reported in Pakistan with more than 20,000 animals affected in only Sindh. Karachi is the city with the most reported cases, about 54 animals had died in the province, while 4751 had recovered across the province (DAWN, 2022b). Since the disease's breakout, 190,000 cases of LSD have been reported nationwide, with greater than 7500 deaths attributable to the illness. However, the recovery rate emerged to be satisfactory, with over 141,000 animals recovered. Furthermore, Pakistan is already dealing with COVID-19 disasters; the present COVID-19 pandemic has had serious ramifications for the country's healthcare sector (Awan et al., 2022;Khatri et al., 2022), and further crises like LSD might have devastating consequences for Pakistan's economy and the health care system. LSD has spread throughout the country, with cases This article aims to detail the virus that causes LSD, its diagnosis, symptoms, treatment and the economic and health impact of LSD in Pakistan. It also discusses the preventative measures taken by the government of Pakistan and the proposals for controlling additional increases in cases.

DISCUSSION
In 1929, the first clinical symptoms of LSD were reported in Zambia.  (Khan et al., 2021). Currently, the extremely contagious disease LSD is affecting a large portion of Southeast Asian animals at a rapid rate.
Bangladesh was the first country on the Asian continent to report a case of LSD, followed by China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Myanmar (Das et al., 2021). Pakistan has also been affected by LSD as a large number of animals have been infected at several cattle farms in Karachi and more than 200 animals have died so far due to it (Nazir, 2022).
LSD has serious economic implications, and is associated with reduced milk production, temporary or permanent infertility in cows and bulls, weight loss, loss of traction, abortion, skin damage and death. The economic consequences of the rise of this devastating disease on a nation with an already fragile and diminishing economy can be severe and long-lasting, due to the imposition of anticipated blockades on livestock trade and a severe decline in the rural economy of eight million families (Khan et al., 2021). As LSDV has impacted more than 190,000 animals across the nation, this outbreak would have a significant impact on Pakistan's economic situation. Pakistan is the 3rd largest milk-producing country in the world, with over 47 million tons of milk produced per year (Abdus Sattar, 2021). LSD-infected cows will not be able to produce milk for several months and even after recovering it will take time to regain the same production level, which overall will impact the country's economy (Molla et al., 2017). The financial losses that Pakistan will face due to LSD can be estimated by comparing There has also been a shortage of veterinary medicines at the veterinary pharmacy due to hoarding, and most diagnostic laboratories are focused on COVID-19, resulting in a limited diagnosis of animal diseases (Hussain et al., 2020).
Emerging an epidemic in midst of a pandemic will cause severe problems such as already low production of milk and dairy products will be further lowered and unable to meet the demands. Additionally, already a shortage of veterinary drugs will lead to the inability to treat the secondary diseases in animals due to the LSDV. Pakistan will have to spend a lot of money to eradicate the disease as in the past Israel had to spend USD 750,000 to control the initial outbreak of LSD. Although the vaccination will cost a lot of expenses economic benefits gained by controlling LSD with vaccination can be taken into account by comparing the reduction in economic loss with the expenditure for the vaccine (Molla et al., 2017).

CALL OF ACTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A task force has been formed by Pakistan's Ministry of National Food Security and Research to design a framework for preventing the development of LSD in cattle and buffaloes. As per Dr. Mohammad Akram, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, to combat the spread of LSD 500,000 vaccinations had to be imported. Though vaccines must be imported, as a temporary substitute "Goat Pox" vaccine is being used, which has been demonstrated to be effective (DAWN, 2022c).
In addition, a ban on the livestock market has been imposed to pre-